This guide was created to share some helpful information for surviving and other goodies the game offers. It's a work-in-progress.

Also, here are some disclaimers before people get ahead of themselves.

• Weapon names used here are not exact. They are educated guesses based on forum searching and general weapon knowledge (which is poor).
  
• *Damage values and health values are relative to one another, but may be different in the code.
  
• Most advice is based on personal gameplay, mainly on Extreme (stopped at army base because it's stupid.)
  
• Again, consider this guide a public, work-in-progress. Feel free to contribute any information.

*Example of relative values: A civilian has 2 health points (HP). A pistol does 1.5 damage per bullet. Therefore it takes at least 2 bullets to down a civilian. The coding may use different numbers, but it still takes 2 bullets to down a civilian regardless.

Just to cover some ground I will go over some of the basics that the game teaches you in the very beginning before you slaughter your hometown.

• Move around = W, A, S, D (Up, Left, Down, Right)
  
• Shoot = Left-mouse button
  
• Aim/Strafe = Right-mouse button
  
• Weapons = 1, 2 and 3 (4 for cycling through throwables)
  
• Execute = Q
  
• Reload = R
  
• Action = E (Enter Vehicle/Switch Weapon/Use)
  
• Kick = F
  
• Throw = G
  
• Sprint = Shift
  
• Dodge = Space Bar
  
• Crouch = Ctrl
  
• Objective/Outline/Ammo = Alt

Most of these controls are obvious. As you play, try taking advantage of the not-so-obvious tactics. This game is actually quite limited when it comes to dynamic situations. You point, shoot, run and repeat. With that said, most situations are trivial but it's the moment you're pinned down you'd wish you learned to have the muscle memory to react properly. Below are some basic tips.

• Execute a person to gain health (yes, it's the only way).
  
• Kick a person to stun them or prepare them for execution.
  
• Crouch behind objects for cover such as cars and walls.
  
• Crouching also increases your accuracy and makes you harder to hit.
  
• Retreat by sprinting and dodging if you're being shot at.
  
• Check your objectives if you forget how many people you need to kill.
  
• Check for ammo often, some guns don't appear in some levels and it's best to have a gun with lots of ammo (duh).
  
• If you're bored or see a car surrounded by people or other cars, throw a grenade or molotov.
  
• Flashbangs are useless. You can throw them for fun though.
  
• Turn on Safe Executions in the options menu. It prevents animations that appear when you execute someone. Thank me later.

To be continued...

As far as I'm concerned, the only difference between Easy, Hard and Extreme is the amount of health you regenerate per execution. The change is subtle but as you increase the difficulty being reckless becomes very punishing, forcing you to execute more people, more often.

Let's assume you have 100 Health Points (HP) when you're at full health. While on the Easy difficulty, an execution will award you about 80HP. That's nearly full health. On Hard, you'd be awarded only about 40HP. It's not a lot, but it's enough. On Extreme, you only gain about 20HP.

Note: Numbers for health are approximate.

Firefights against law enforcement become more punishing as you increase difficulty and the need to fight back tactically grows. On Easy, you can get away with performing an execution mid firefight and can continue being all gung-ho, but on Extreme, it's a lot more difficult to perform a execution in a tight situation without being filled with bullets, forcing you to retreat more often.

The table below describes each weapon by name, type, damage per bullet (damage per second), magazine size and total ammunition.


Some quick notes...

• Damage values are relative to the enemy you're facing. Some other information (names, maximum ammo capacity) may be off.
  
• The Uzi delivers the highest damage per second, consistently; highest fire rate.
  
• There are no burst fire weapons in this game. Guns are fully automatic unless stated otherwise.

*The flamethrower will kill a civilian after a few seconds of them being burned.
**The Uzi uses the same ammo as pistols. Be cautious carrying both.

Most of the game can be accomplished with just a pistol and an automatic weapon. Strategically, you'd use a pistol on civilians and an automatic when fighting law enforcement. If no pistol/automatic ammo is available, your third weapon (whatever it is) comes in handy until you find more ammo. Note that the pump-action shotgun is not as deadly as the pistol in most situations unless your enemy is at point-blank range but the ammo is more common than automatics so it makes a decent secondary, to your secondary.



There are some situations where non-typical use of weapons may be a better approach. Using your automatic to complete objectives quickly, such as clearing a house where lots of civilians are gathered is a prime example. Doing so may allow you to sometimes (avoid or better yet, prolong) an encounter with law enforcement allowing you to complete levels quicker (and safer?). This can be done on any difficulty but can give you some trouble if law enforcement arrives earlier than you anticipated, especially on Extreme, leaving you with less health (and less automatic ammo) for your next objective.


Shooting is straight forward. You move your cursor and click/hold your left-mouse button. Keep in mind though, you don't need to have your cursor on your target. You can place your cursor in the direction of your target (in front or behind them) and you'd still hit them. The cursor just directs your aim, not where your bullet lands. The only difficult part about shooting your target is being shot at by said target. Crouching is by far the most efficient method to avoid being hit. It's so good I would say it actually unbalances the game. Nonetheless, some fights are still difficult even, so let's go into detail about two very helpful tactics, ambushing and shooting from long-range.

Note: Burst firing your weapons (holding the left-mouse button for about half a second, letting go, repeat...) helps you control your ammo consumption and works more efficiently in most cases than just holding the trigger till your mag is empty.

The act of ambushing (in this game at least) would be you, waiting for your enemies to turn a corner to kill them. You get a quick glimpse of this at the beginning of level 2 against four S.W.A.T members. The idea is to already be aiming at the corner before your enemy turns it. In some cases, it may even be better to fire your weapon before your enemy rounds it giving them no chance to return fire, especially if you're low on health.

It's very useful to use this technique in confined spaces, and even better if an area has only one entrance to prevent you from being flanked. In the image, I'm on the second floor of a motel, where I was tactically waiting until the raid was over. Note the bodies and bloodshed. Also, I do recommend using a shotgun in doorways as it's probably the only time it's considered the best weapon of choice.

Long-range shooting in this game is a joke, and it's difficult to do but it's a must to get through the last levels (or at least the Army Base) especially on Extreme. Holding down the right-mouse button allows you to see farther and forces your character to strafe slowly but this method isn't enough. You're still going to get shot most of the time, usually before you can even see your enemy. I recommend firing off the screen. Yes. Nearly blind.

You can look at your minimap to guide your blind shots. In the minimap you're (obviously) in the center and the direction you're facing is indicated by the tip of the arrowhead. Enemies with weapons are a circle with a dot in the center. You can rely on the minimap to shoot in the right direction. Don't use this method everywhere, as you can end up expending more ammo than necessary. There's lots of objects (cars, trees, trashcans, civilians etc...) that can and will get in your way.

When you complete an objective you'll notice a message that says 'Respawn Acquired'. The question is, what is a respawn?



Respawning allows you to come back to life after you have died. All the currently completed sidequests, kills towards current objectives, destroyed objects, ammo etc... remain the same. On the negative side, you come back with only about half of your health.

If you die and have 0 respawns left, you must try the level again from the very beginning. You can have up to 6 or 7 respawns, given that the level has that many objectives to be completed. Don't be afraid to act a bit reckless if you're feeling confident with the amount of respawns you have, although unforeseen deaths happen. In the image to the right, I was hit by car (I thought would've stopped, honestly.)

Note: You get a respawn for every objective and every sidequest. If you have trouble on the end of a particular level, try doing an easy sidequest.

The table below describes the types of enemies you encounter, their weapon of choice and the amount of damage they can take before they are downed.


*Some civilians have weapons, typically pistols. Other civilians may pickup weapons from the ground.
**Some military personnel have body armor. Armor allows them to take an extra one to two shots before being downed.

Note: For comparison, most weapons do 1 damage per shot.


Dealing with police officers is trivial most of the time. It'd be wise to try and use your pistol as often as possible as they go down with just two pistol shots like civilians and most officers carry a pistol. So you can kill an officer and gain ammo, it's a win-win. A few close/mid-range shotgun shots would also do the trick quite easily. Don't ever back down from these guys unless you're already low on health.


I got 99 problems and dealing with S.W.A.T is one. A big one. These guys take many shots before they're downed and it's highly recommend to use automatics against them. They always appear in small numbers but they carry SMG's which makes them a deadly force. Ambushing and long distance shooting is also recommended. Retreat when neccesary and return when you're ready.


One word to describe them, bees. They're annoying, there's lots of them and they hurt. Military personnel go down a lot easier than S.W.A.T, harder to down than police officers and they seem to arrive in larger numbers. Some even carry launchers, sometimes they have humvees loaded with a MG. Overall, automatics recommended most of the time.

The next few sections consist of level information. Refer to this section if you don't understand the table.

Below is a key for the list of objectives, it's relevant for all tables in the preceding levels.

Title = Objective/Quest title
Objective/Quest = Description of said task
Optional = Yes, you can skip this task. No, you must finish the task to complete the level.
Threat = Yes, the area has armed people. No, the area (typically) doesn't have armed people. N/A, the area may or may not have armed people.

Note: Optional quests usually have large gatherings of civilians, making any 'kill X amount of civilian' quests easier and they give you an extra respawn.

The list below names and describes each objective for the second level.


Refer to the beginning of section 'Home (Level 1)' if you can't understand the table above.

The list below names and describes each objective for the third level.


Refer to the beginning of section 'Home (Level 1)' if you can't understand the table above.

The list below names and describes each objective for the fourth level.

*'Fight the Law Enforcement' objective is triggered by entering the train station (building, not the platforms). You must pass through this building to exit the level, forcing you to fight many law enforcement.

Refer to the beginning of section 'Home (Level 1)' if you can't understand the table above.

The list below names and describes each objective for the fifth level.

*Killing the politician is a sidequest that's already active at the start of the level.

Refer to the beginning of section 'Home (Level 1)' if you can't understand the table above.

"Give me a few days... (Work/School etc...)"

"Give me a few days... (Work/School etc...)"